I was struggling to get this one in at the last minute, and finally staged a self-portrait shoot inspired by the idea of moving towards the light as we head into the New Year. I wish the focus was a little better, but am happy with the overall effect.

We walked to brunch in search of subjects for this week’s challenge, but I ended up finding mine at brunch itself, in the adorably designed S&W Country Diner in Culver City, CA.

Week 3 – Technical: Full Manual [Shot with Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6]While the camera often determines shutter speed and aperture for the photographer, it doesn’t know your creative intent. This week, challenge your self to assume creative control over the camera by using full manual mode. Select a subject where varying the aperture and / or shutter speed helps enhance the composition and visual qualities of the image.

The Women’s March in Downtown LA provided many potential subjects for this week’s challenge, but this young lady standing strong and serious stood out. I kept the aperture fairly open to take in more light and help her stand out.

So find an occasion that won’t leave you with a whole pie in the house whispering “eat me for breakfast” every day (do anyone else’s pies do that?), and go make Joy the Baker‘s Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie.

The pie begins with, of course, pie crust. I thought this was a pretty good and quite easy crust – not the absolute best crust I’ve ever had, but very tasty and a good texture. It’s always good to remember that pie crusts need time to chill, so start them in advance.

Once the crust is prepped and chilling, it’s on to the filling (Mom, if you’re reading this, I know you appreciated that rhyme). This starts out as your basic apple pie filling, more or less, though then it’s tossed with its own caramelized juices and a bunch of cranberries.

The pie is topped with a crumble instead of the more traditional crust, making it a sort of hybrid dessert. Whenever I make a pie, I always feel like there’s too much filling, but in the end it nearly always squeezes in and you won’t regret it afterwards.

I will say there may have been a little too much crumble in this recipe – I used it all but felt that in the end, a thinner layer might have lent a better balance to the finished product.

I struggled a little with the bake itself – it was my grandmother’s oven (not that I haven’t struggled with my own) and the top and crust cooked much faster than the filling, so I had to leave it in longer than expected and tent the top with foil to prevent burning.

Still, in the end everyone was very happy with the result – crisp topping and sweet filling, and I particularly enjoyed the tart notes the cranberries brought to the dessert. The crumble had a couple unusual inclusions – ground ginger and salted pistachios – and I was pleasantly pleased with the pistachios especially, though the Boy wished we’d ground them slightly less to leave bigger chunks.

The cranberries and apples marry perfectly in this pie, though I’d err on the side of slightly less than the full recipe of crumble to let the filling stand out a bit more. This also might be a filling that would benefit from slight pre-cooking, though I’m not skilled enough of a baker to venture as to how exactly that should play out.

To Assemble the Pie: Remove one of the pie dough disks from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into about a 13-inch round. Roll the dough a few strokes, then use your fingers to move the emerging circle around the floured surface. This ensures that the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface. The circle won’t be perfect, that’s ok.

Try not to get any tears in the rolled out dough, but if you do, they can be patched together with extra dough. When you roll the dough and you can see it start springing back, that means that the butter is warming and the crust shouldn’t be rolled out anymore. Gently lift the 13-inch round from the floured surface and center in a deep 9-inch round pie dish. Place in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filing.

To Make the Filling: In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and toss to mix. Place the apples in a fine mesh strainer set over the large bowl. Allow the apples to macerate at room temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours.

The mixture will release at least 1/2 cup of liquid.

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, boil down this liquid, with the butter, to about 1/3 cup (a little more if you started with more than 1/2 cup of liquid), or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. Meanwhile, transfer the apples and cranberries to a bowl and toss them with the cornstarch until all traces of it have disappeared.

Pour the syrup over the apples, tossing gently (Do not be concerned if the liquid hardens on contact with the apples and cranberries; it will dissolve during baking.)

Transfer the apple and cranberry mixture to the pie shell.

To Make the Crumble: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats, spices, and salt. Add the butter and toss the mixture together with your hands. Break the butter up into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small pebbles and oat flakes. This took me about 4 minutes. Toss in the pistachios.

Sprinkle the crumble over the apple and cranberry mixture. Try to cover the apples completely or they can burn in the oven. Place in the refrigerator to chill while the oven preheats.

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place pie of a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, until the edges bubble and the apples are cooked through.

Allow to cool for at least an hour before serving. Serve with ice cream! Enjoy!

]]>https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/apple-cranberry-crumble-pie-recipe/feed/0pyllekApple Cranberry Crumble PiePie CrustCrumble IngredientsApple Cranberry Crumble PieApple Cranberry Crumble PieApple Cranberry Crumble PieBackyard Brunchinghttps://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/brunch-in-the-backyard/
https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/brunch-in-the-backyard/#respondFri, 02 Feb 2018 14:51:23 +0000http://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/?p=2739Continue reading Backyard Brunching]]>The Boy made a New Year’s resolution last year to host a “dinner party” once a month – basically that means we had to have people over and provide food. Preferably that we cooked. Normally, I was far too harried before these events to take a single photo, and then too busy hosting during them, but I did manage to capture a few pictures of a lovely outdoor brunch we hosted in service to this resolution and figured I’d share with you all.

A friend and attendee (bless her), offered to do the table, which was our dining room table dragged outside under a tree. She put together a gorgeous blue palate, which I’m sorry I didn’t capture before we’d scattered glasses all over it. Oh well.

Speaking of drinks, we set up a mimosa bar with champagne and a variety of mix-ins (raspberry, blueberry, and mango). The mix-ins actually used frozen fruit, and were super easy to spin up in the blender.

We always like to try to have a balance of things we make and things we buy at “dinner parties,” for the sake of everyone’s sanity. This brunch was supplemented with bagels (buttered and toasted on a sheet in the oven) and a variety of bright berries.

We cooked a delicious cast-iron skillet frittata, which the Boy was fully in charge of (also, I’m noticing a fly has taken residence on it in this photo…REAL LIFE AM I RIGHT?).

Whereas I was in charge of Raspberry Jam Buns with Crème Fraîche Frosting from Julia Turshen’s Small Victories. These came out gorgeous, but a bit dry, so I think I need more jam filling (or to cook them a bit less) next time. The book is lovely, though.

And that’s brunch! Full Disclosure: While we survived and thoroughly enjoyed our twelve dinner parties, that resolution is not being repeated…instead, we’ll still be having dinner parties, but less dinner parties and less pressure. Still, I highly recommend it for those among you still on the hunt for something to resolve.

Week 48 – Artistic: Bodyscape [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]The human form has been the study of art since art was first inspired. Your inspiration this week is the human body.

I later realized I think this challenge was meant to elicit a photo of a body looking like a landscape, but oh well – instead, mine is a self-portrait of sorts highlighting the silhouette of a body. I sort of like the fact that it seems to tell a story.

Week 49 – Story: Blue Hour [Shot with Canon EF 75-300mm/f4-5.6]The Blue Hour is the hour after sunset or the hour before sunrise when the sky is dominated by amazing blue and purple hues. Use this to tell your story this week.

Ok, anything with distinct timing is hard, because it’s so easy to miss blue hour, and sometimes blue hour just doesn’t really happen. I managed to pull it off at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but am not super thrilled with this week’s result.

Week 50 – Technical: Full Edit [Shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II]Use the SOOC shot from the beginning of the challenge and re-edit it to its full glory. If that shot isn’t available feel free to re-edit any of your past work.

This was fun – I love post-processing (yassss Lightroom), so enjoyed going back to edit this photo. I’m including both versions below in case you don’t remember the original.

Week 51 – Artistic: Fear [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]Fear is your inspiration this week. Find a way to show fear in a way that your viewer feels it.

So this challenge was Christmas week, making it weird tonally, but we had a lot of fun heading out to stage photos. Personally, I find mine pretty terrifying, so I’m happy with it.

Very open-ended = hm. However, I ended up loving this photo, which tells my story through the lens of a portrait of my beautiful 98-year-old grandmother. She reminds me of the stories that made me and the stories I will make.

]]>https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/27/dogwood-2017-photography-challenge-weeks-48-52/feed/0pyllekDogwood Week 48Dogwood Week 49Dogwood Week 51Dogwood Week 52Eating Out: PYThttps://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/pyt-los-angeles-restaurant-review/
https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/pyt-los-angeles-restaurant-review/#respondSun, 21 Jan 2018 16:07:59 +0000http://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/?p=2753Continue reading Eating Out: PYT]]>The Boy and I ended up at P.Y.T. as we traveled through downtown one day and were hungry (I think we were on the way back home from a nearby staycation and brunch was in order). The place is very “downtown LA,” with a bit of chic warehouse feel, high ceilings, and lots of light (and an enviable fiddle leaf fig tree).

The menu involves a lot of fresh, green items, with some delicious pastry options thrown in for good measure.

Instead of the more traditional bread offering, we started off the meal with a small tray of fresh Snap Peas(complimentary), topped in salt, pepper, oil, and togarashi and served with a charred Meyer lemon. Yum.

I, of course, could not resist ordering a cocktail, and opted for the Night Vision($13), a concoction of Gin, Carrot, Kombucha, Ginger Syrup, and Lemon. The carrot added a nice sweetness (I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I like carrot in cocktails), and I adore kombucha, so I was quite pleased with my choice.

While we did generally go the veggie-heavy, green-food route, I had to insist we try something sweet, so we shared the Lemon Curd Meringue Croiss’innamon Roll($5). It was a delightful hybrid cinnamon roll-croissant pastry filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue. While I’m not generally that into meringue, this was pretty darn delicious, and the pastry was perfectly crispy and flaky. It’s a mess to eat though – be warned.

We also shared our remaining dishes, including the Green Piri-Piri Rice($16), served with Peas, Asparagus, an Over-Easy Egg, Crispy Rice, Lime Zest and Soft Herbs. It’s already easy to sell me on a rice bowl – throw in the word crispy and incorporate incredible green, tart flavors and a runny egg and I. Am. In.

The final dish in our repertoire was the Chef’s Salad($17), which that day had Beets, Pear, Local Lettuces, and a light vinaigrette. Fresh, healthy, delicious.

Overall, P.Y.T. was an easy delight – a great place for vegetarians, but also for anyone who likes to eat. The chef knows his flavors, and everything was gorgeous and very Instagram-worthy (for those of you – including me – that appreciate that sort of thing). Excited to try going back for dinner some time!

The point is, I’m back now, and catching you up on the rest of the 2017 Dogwood Photography Challenge (which I totally completed – woo hoo!). I’ll be posting the rest in two posts, then moving on to catch you up with the 2018 rendition, which is already going full steam ahead. I love this challenge, which my friend Mike got started for us, and this year we have even more people participating, which is awesome. It’s a great way to exercise your photography skills regardless of skill level. Anyway…on to the photos!

Week 43 – Story: Movement [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]Capturing and creating movement in a still photo is a challenge for every photographer. Use movement this week to tell a story.

This was hard, especially as it was Halloween week and I was consumed with getting my costume in order. In the end, the swirling lights of a disco ball worked well enough, but I wish I’d been able to get more of the essence of this challenge.

Week 44 – Technical: Magic ND Filter [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]Use an ND filter combined with a shutter speed of 30 seconds or even longer to create your image. Try a waterscape or even a busy landmark to see the magic happen.

Well, I don’t have an ND filter (nor did anyone in our group), so I subbed in long exposure night photography to fulfill this challenge. The moving clouds came out better than expected, at least!

Week 45 – Artistic: Cold [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]Your inspiration this week is cold. Interpret this how you want.

So, I live in Southern California and cold is hard to come by. However, I’m starting to have more fun experimenting with light, so I played with the light from our fridge (with the Boy as my ever-unwilling model, ha) to capture the essence of cold this week.

Week 46 – Story: Landscape Foreground [Shot with Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM]Many stories are based around portraits, but landscapes can have stories also. Tell the story of a landscape by using the foreground as the subject and the background as the scene.

We were traveling in Spain and Morocco this week (more to come on that front), and I captured this gorgeous old carving as we climbed La Giralda, the tower of Seville’s incredible cathedral.

Week 47 – Technical: Shaped Bokeh [Shot with Canon EF 50mm/f1.8 II]Bokeh was one of people’s favorite weeks. This year take it a step further and create a scene using shaped bokeh.

We were still traveling, so I had to give up on shaped bokeh and target bokeh only for this challenge, which used more post processing than I usually do (combining two photos and adding light effects). I’m pretty pleased with the result, however – these are light installations in the lobby of our Madrid hotel.

I probably could have been more creative with this week’s challenge, but a busy week and a gorgeous beach sunset led me to this portrait of my lovely cousin “levitating” by her own power.

Week 42 – Artistic: Music [Shot with Canon EF 50mm/f1.8 II]Your inspiration this week is music. This is wide open so have fun with it.

The pretty pattern on one of our records captured my attention for this challenge, and I played with angle and color to get a more interesting shot.

]]>https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/dogwood-photography-challenge-weeks-41-42/feed/0pyllekDogwood Week 41Dogwood Week 42Eating Out: A-Framehttps://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/eating-out-a-frame/
https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/eating-out-a-frame/#respondSun, 05 Nov 2017 02:51:42 +0000http://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/?p=2722Continue reading Eating Out: A-Frame]]>Brunch: the best meal, because everyone can get what they want. Sweet, savory, it’s got it all. So, when someone proposes brunch, I tend to be in. And that’s how we ended up at A-Frame for brunch just a couple of weekends ago.

A-Frame, for those not in the know, is part of Roy Choi’s restaurant empire, housed in an old Wienerschnitzel (or so the story goes – I think it’s true) that’s been converted into a bright Hawaiian “diner.” Hearty meals await, especially at brunch, when unlimited pancakes and unlimited beverages call to the hungry and hungover.

Of course, we couldn’t bear not to try All You Can Eat Stacks on Stacks ($15), which allows you to order as many pancakes as you can eat (in small stacks of two each) in a variety of flavors: Buttermilk, Lilikoi Butter (passionfruit), Banana Mac Nut, P.O.G. (pineapple orange guava jam), and Buttermilk Chicken. You can also get the Mochiko Fried Chicken with any of the pancakes (pictured here with Lilikoi Butter). The Lilikoi was my favorite, though the Banana Mac Nut pleased the banana-loving crowd, and if you’re hungry you sure can’t beat the value (plus, the bartender let us share since everyone ordered an entrée of their own).

For my main entrée, I got the Breakfast Plate ($15), which the bartender (we sat at the bar – word to the wise, brunch is BUSY) said she’d never seen anyone finish. And I didn’t, though I gave the combo of Housemade Spam, Portuguese Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, Two Scoops Rice, One Scoop Mac Salad, and a Hawaiian Roll my damnedest. This was pretty much exactly what you’d expect, which was good – nothing special, but good! I wasn’t hungover, but I’d call this good hangover food.

I also indulged in their All You Can Drink ($16) offer, which allowed me to flit between unlimited micheladas, Bloody Marys, Dos Equis, and mimosas to my liking. I stuck with micheladas and Bloody Marys, both were solid (if again, nothing too special) – the Bloody Mary was quite strong!

Overall, I’d say A-Frame is good and filling and fun, if not mind-blowing…but if you want to stock up on “unlimited” things, I’d definitely hit up brunch. Make a reservation first.

]]>https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/eating-out-a-frame/feed/0pyllekLilikoi and Chicken PancakesBreakfast PlateMicheladaA-Frame Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato‘Tis the Season: Happy Halloween!https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/diy-snow-queen-halloween-costume/
https://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/diy-snow-queen-halloween-costume/#respondSat, 28 Oct 2017 12:09:53 +0000http://thereluctantmillennialblog.wordpress.com/?p=2690Continue reading ‘Tis the Season: Happy Halloween!]]>Official Halloween is in three days, but it’s Halloween party weekend this weekend, so let’s celebrate! My costume for tonight, of course, is not quite done, but I realized I don’t think I’ve ever shown off last year’s triumph – the “Snow Queen” (or, if you want more of a pop culture reference, you can call it “Winter” from Game of Thrones).

As is often the case with my costumes, this was a full-on DIY, so I’ll walk you through a few of the main elements.

The crown is a wreath of fake florals, with added glitter and sequins and a tiara of fake icicles. And then I painted my face in a mix of whites, silvers, and pale blues, added some crystals and glitter and fake eyelashes, put on a necklace I’d secured in a frock swap, and swept out into the night!

Happy Halloween! What are you gonna be this year? (And if you need more inspiration still, try here and here.)

My favorite thing about bowls is that they’re infinitely customizable – making them (1) very easy to make fit your own preferences and (2) very easy to adapt to what’s already in your fridge (or lacking from it). This bowl takes a particularly healthy turn with a base of crispy kale “chips,” dusted with spices and nutritional yeast.

Side note: I am really bad at making crispy kale. Other people’s kale seems to turn out so much crispier than mine. What am I doing wrong?!

Anyway, while the kale crisps, you cook up some beans and fry off some sweet potato slices (I may have overcooked those a bit, those black spots are not your target look). I also chopped up some toppings, including red onion, cilantro, and avocado.

Finally, everything gets piled together in a bowl! Mine is certainly not vegan, because I added sour cream, but you could certainly go back to the original recipe and skip that addition (sour cream is SO GOOD though, am I right?). And of course, feel free to add all your own favorite nacho fixings like salsa (which I did) and cheese (which I did not).

InstructionsPreheat oven to 225°F and prep kale by rinsing, thoroughly drying, and tearing into small pieces (discard any large stems).

Add kale to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with oil. Use hands to massage the kale to disperse the oil. Add salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and nutritional yeast (optional) to the kale and toss with hands to distribute.

Spread kale onto a large baking sheet(s) in an even layer, making sure the pieces aren’t overlapping to ensure crispiness. You may need to bake them in 2 batches depending on size of baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then remove from oven and toss/stir to ensure even baking. Bake for 5-10 minutes more or until chips are crispy and slightly golden brown. Watch carefully to ensure they don’t burn.

In the meantime, add slightly drained black beans to a small saucepan along with cumin and chili powder (add salt if beans are unsalted) and warm over medium heat. Once bubbling, reduce to low to keep warm. Stir occasionally.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and spread to coat the surface. Then add sliced sweet potatoes in a single layer. Cover to steam. Cook for 3-5 minutes, checking every couple of minutes to see if the undersides are brown. Once brown, flip to the other side, cover, and continue cooking until both sides are brown and potatoes are tender (about 7-8 minutes total). Set aside.

To serve, place kale into bowls and top with sweet potatoes, black beans, and any other desired toppings, such as avocado, salsa, cilantro, red onion, or sour cream.